Unable to see BLE advertising

[viswa]

Hi All,

I have flashed one of the samples on our custom board based on NRF52833. 

SDK : nrf connect v1.7

IDE : Vs Code

OS : Windows 10

I can see the that code is running when I connect a debugger and have played around BLE advertising options. 

Still I couldn't see device advertising in nrf Connect mobile application.

Does the provided examples only work on development kits?

"I have to build an application which can switch between central and peripheral roles on receiving a command from UART."

which example shall I pick to start my development?

I'm relatively newbie in BLE development and completely new to RTOS applications. Need a little help here.

[Einar Thorsrud]

Hi,

Still I couldn't see device advertising in nrf Connect mobile application.

You should normally see the advertising packets from a phone, though there can be some exceptions. Which sample have you programmed?

Does the provided examples only work on development kits?

Yes. Most samples work on all development kits, as long as you build for the correct board.

"I have to build an application which can switch between central and peripheral roles on receiving a command from UART."

Perhaps it makes sense to start with a multirole sample. For instance Bluetooth: Central and Peripheral HRS.

[viswa]

I have used peripheral_uart sample and peripheral_hr sample. Built the samples without any modification and flashed into our custom board.

I am expecting at least the advertising visible in my mobile.

[Einar Thorsrud]

Hi,

The periphearl_hr_coded advertise on coded PHY so you will not see that with your mobile pone (which generally does not support coded PHY). The peripheral_uart sample advertises out of the box, though, so you should see packet from that.

Have you tested the radio on your custom board before, so that you know if the basics are in place? And have you made a board file or overlay that you build for so that the project fits your custom board? Please explain what you have done.

If everything looks good from an SW perspective and you see no issues when debugging I suggest you check your HW. The first thing could be to test with the Radio test sample and a spectrum analyzer. Output a carrier and verify that you measure it with a sensible strength and at the correct frequency. If that is good you should also be able to receive Bluetooth advertising packets from that device.

[viswa]

Hi 

I've selected one nordic board based on nrf52833 and built a sample on peripheral_uart and flashed it.

[Einar Thorsrud]

I see. But you are testing on your custom HW, are you not? So you need to adapt the project to work on your specific HW. A typical pitfall could be if you don't have the optional 32.768 kHz crystal, for instance? 

[viswa]

I'm testing on custom hw and also I have two oscillators connected for the chip, one 24MHz and one 32.6khz. Where shall i find the MACID of bluetooth device?

[Einar Thorsrud]

viswa said:

I'm testing on custom hw and also I have two oscillators connected for the chip, one 24MHz and one 32.6khz

Good. Then you need to adjust the firmware to your custom HW. As mentioned I suggest starting with radio test to see that the basics you need for using the radio is functional.

viswa said:

Where shall i find the MACID of bluetooth device?

That is part of FICR, specifically DEVICEADDR. This is is randomly generated during production and is automatically used  by the BT stack unless you explicitly use another.

[viswa]

is there any tutorial as how to custom build an application from existing samples?

Also I need to know how to link custom board created with build configurations? A simple selection under boards tab would be enough?

[Einar Thorsrud]

Hi,

I suggest you see the description of custom boards here, and the linked pages. Most of this process can be quite simple in VS Code, where the nRF Connect plugin has a wizard that helps you. I suggest you watch the recording of the Introducing nRF Connect for VS Code webinar, which demonstrates this as well as other features of the plugin.

[viswa]

Hi Einar

Our custom board supplies 24Mhz as main oscillator. where shall set these settings. I couldn't find clock settings in the project.

[Einar Thorsrud]

Hi,

There are no nRF devises that support a 24 MHz clock. If that is your clock frequency the radio will not work (frequency and timing - everything - will be way off). The high frequency oscillator frequency is not configurable. You need to revise your HW and design your board according to the requirements in the product specification. See CLOCK chapter for crystal requirements.

[viswa]

Thanks for prompt reply. We will modify the design to use external 32MHZ crystal. But, in the mean while, can we start testing the radio and other Bluetooth functionalities using internal 64MHz oscillator. If so, can you guide us where to change the code for that.

Thanks in advance.